Origins Southern Cross began as a small network of three stations in regional Victoria. The
Southern Cross TV8 network comprised
GLV-10 Gippsland, BCV-8
Bendigo, and
STV-8 Mildura. GLV was the first
regional television station in the country, launched on 9 December 1961.
1992–2016: 10 affiliation Regional Victoria was aggregated in 1992.
VIC Television, based in
Shepparton and
Ballarat affiliated with the Nine Network, while
Prime Television, based in
Albury-Wodonga became an affiliate of the
Seven Network. It was soon integrated into the network, taking on the name
Ten Capital soon after. Southern Cross Broadcasting acquired Telecasters Australia in 2001. As a result,
Ten Queensland and
Ten Northern NSW became a part of the Southern Cross Ten network, while Telecasters' other assets –
Seven Darwin and
Seven Central – were later integrated into the Southern Cross network. Local news bulletins in Canberra and parts of Queensland were axed on 22 November 2001 – one of a number of moves taken by Southern Cross and competitor
Prime Television that resulted in an investigation by the
Australian Broadcasting Authority into the adequacy of regional news. in 2009. ,
New South Wales The network expanded into the
Spencer Gulf and
Broken Hill areas on 31 December 2003 under a
supplementary license granted to
Southern Cross GTS/BKN by the ABA. Southern Cross Ten moved away from generic Network Ten branding – in use since the early 1990s for most areas – with a new logo, similar to that of parent company Southern Cross Broadcasting in 2005. Three-minute local news updates were introduced in 2004, following recommendations put into place following the ABA's report. and on 5 November 2007, this purchase was completed. Southern Cross Ten ceased to broadcast
MyTalk on 25 February 2008, after the Macquarie acquisition. Southern Cross Ten began broadcasting Ten's digital channel,
One HD (now 10 Bold) on 2 July 2009 on LCN 50. Southern Cross Ten began broadcasting Ten's digital channel,
Eleven (now 10 Peach) on 11 January 2011 on LCN 55. Southern Cross Ten began broadcasting Ten's datacast channel,
TVSN in December 2012 on LCN 54. Southern Cross Ten began broadcasting its own datacast channel,
Aspire TV on 21 May 2013 on LCN 56.
2016–2021: Affiliation with Nine Entertainment On 29 April 2016, Southern Cross Austereo announced that it had signed a five-year affiliation deal with
Nine Entertainment Co., owner of the Nine Network, for almost $500 million, taking the place of
WIN Television as the primary regional Nine affiliate. On 1 July 2016, Southern Cross switched its primary affiliation from Network Ten to the Nine Network and Nine's metropolitan branding was introduced across Southern Cross' television assets in Queensland, Southern NSW and Victoria, joining its existing Nine affiliate station in Spencer Gulf, SA and Broken Hill, NSW. Southern Cross' Northern NSW station,
NRN, was not part of the deal as the Nine-owned
NBN Television already operated in the region.
GDS/BDN Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill remained unchanged with Nine on channel 8, 9Gem on channel 80 and 9Go! on channel 88. As a result, TVSN stopped broadcasting and was replaced with a
To Be Advised slide until being replaced with
Yesshop on 1 August 2016. Due to the need to import and install the required equipment, Southern Cross originally stated that it would not immediately offer Nine's digital services
9HD and
9Life upon the transition; the broadcaster stated that they planned to begin transmitting them by mid-August—a delay which would have caused the third match of the
2016 State of Origin series on 13 July to not be transmitted in high definition in the affected regions—which includes parts of the New South Wales and Queensland regions who play the series. However, on 24 June 2016, Southern Cross announced that it had been "working tirelessly to get HD to air as quickly as possible", and 9HD became available from launch day on channel 50. The same approach also prompted 9Life to return early on 17 July 2016. Southern Cross announced on 25 July 2016 that it would broadcast the New Zealand-based home shopping channel
Yesshop as a
datacast service. The channel became available on 1 August 2016 in Queensland, Southern NSW, ACT and Victoria on LCN 55. However, Yesshop's owner (Yes Retail) made the decision to cease trading on 29 September 2016 citing lack of funds to pay wages and the company's current losses of approximately 20 million dollars. Employees were terminated the same day, and the channels were removed on Freeview later that day. Following months of negotiations, Southern Cross finalised an agreement on 28 March 2017 to sell their Ten-affiliated Northern NSW station, NRN, to WIN Television for a total of $55 million, with the sale taking effect on 31 May 2017. Due to operational logistics, WIN did not commence broadcasting their identity to the NRN market until 1 September 2017. This sale relieved Southern Cross of their only sole Ten-affiliated station, with their remaining Ten affiliate,
SGS/SCN operating in the Spencer Gulf/Broken Hill region where Southern Cross holds monopoly ownership of all three network affiliates. On 17 July 2017, Southern Cross launched American religious channel SonLife Broadcasting Network (SBN), owned by
evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, as a datacast service. The channel is broadcast in regional Queensland, Southern NSW & ACT, and regional Victoria on channel 55 via Southern Cross' Nine-affiliated stations, and in Tasmania on channel 64, Spencer Gulf SA & Broken Hill NSW on channel 54, and Darwin on channel 74 via Southern Cross' Seven affiliate remaining stations.
2021–2024: Return to 10 affiliation On 12 March 2021, Nine announced that it would return to
WIN Television as its regional affiliate in most markets beginning on 1 July 2021, in a deal that would last at least seven years. This has ended SCA's five-year agreement with the
Nine Network. On 25 June 2021, SCA and Network 10 announced a two-year affiliation deal in regional Queensland, Southern NSW and regional Victoria, which introduced
10 Shake into regional areas for the very first time and it broadcasts on Channel 54, as well as
Sky News Regional which launched on 1 August 2021 and it broadcasts on Channel 56. SCA began broadcasting 10's datacast channel,
Gecko on 1 July 2023 on LCN 57.
2024–2025: Sale of stations On 17 December 2024, Southern Cross Austereo announced they are selling their regional television licenses in Regional Queensland, Southern NSW/ACT and Regional Victoria over to their affiliate
Network 10. As part of the sale, SCA will receive a share of profits from the stations for the first 5 years post-completion. The sale was completed on 1 March 2025. On 26 February 2025, Southern Cross Austereo announced they would be selling their remaining regional television licenses, including their remaining Nine and 10 affiliated stations in the
Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill to
Australian Digital Holdings. However, negotiations fell through and an agreement was then made with
Seven West Media, owners of the
Seven Network, to purchase the stations. The sale was completed on 1 July 2025 and marked SCA's exit from television broadcasting. ==Programming==